Well, I for one will be glad to see Matt go. I never warmed to him as a Time Lord. I think Capaldi's gonna be great in the role and bring some new blood to what's become fairly stale story telling. I only hope Moffat recognises that.

"The Doctor is regenerating"

Hell, normally it's a quiet family affair with just companions (or even alone) and usually after the adventure is over.

And this is the first time since Christopher Eccleston was cast that I've known anything about the new actor to play the Doctor and that didn't really count since we knew nothing about what the revived show would be like. Matt and David were great but at the time I knew little about them or whether they were going to be good.

Whereas I know Capaldi is a great actor and, at the risk of tempting fate, is bound to be a great Doctor.

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Completely agreed. Before I delved into DW, all I knew about it was that, the Doctor somehow changed his appearence, he was old and young, and Tom Baker. Seriously, huge scarf, curly hair - Doctor Who's image more than anything.

Beyond that, I'd known about the revival in '05 but didn''t check it until, well, fairly recently. But with all the talk about the anniversary this year, I thought I'd give it a try and start with '05, as many suggested that I do. And I did. And never looked back since. But, I digress.

I've known Christopher Eccleston as an actor when I first saw him in Jude, that Kate Winslet film he did back in 1996, and I thought he was absolutely, er, fantastic! I've followed him periodically in shows and such, especially Cracker, and I guess he kinda sealed the deal for me as far as DW is concerned. Beyond him, I'd no idea who the rest of the actors were, except maybe Tom Baker because his image was synonymous with OldWho. Peter Capaldi is thus the second actor that I've known outside of DW before he became the Doctor.

Before I delved into DW, all I knew about it was that, the Doctor somehow changed his appearence, he was old and young, and Tom Baker.

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Back in the '80s, I had a friend who was into a lot of SF and comics but not a Who viewer. I often talked to him about the show, and explained it to him, but when he first saw the cover of a book that showed the faces of all six or seven Doctors, he was surprised at how different they all looked. He'd known that the role had been recast multiple times, but he'd assumed they cast similar-looking actors.

I'm looking forward to it, but it would be nice if he totally wasn't expecting the Regeneration and it came as something of a shock. Eg He trips over something in the TARDIS, hits his head and "oh, bother".

I didn't really warm to Smith that much either. At least no where near as much as I did Tennant and Eccleston. He wasn't a bad doctor, but he wasn't overly good either. It's only until about the second half of series 7 I actually even begun to warm to his doctor.

Just my opinion here, I do want to defend Matt Smith a bit, who has become my Doctor. I just love how weird, and eccentric his Doctor is, reminding us he is an extra terrestrial. While I like Tennant, he always seemed too human to me, and I didn't warm to him until series 3, I felt he was doing a bad imitation of Eccleston in series 2.

He was excelent in the part, even though I did not like a lot of the material he was given. Even this, as a finale, has me cringing. Haven't we seen this before WITH Matt Smith's Doctor? It's like the same damn story. "I'm gonna die! The army people with no motivation of any substance are coming for me! All my enemies! Also there's some aspect of this being a child's fantasy or storybook thing!" Ugh. I wish we could go out on a really, really good story and not have the fact the Doctor is regenerating BE the story.

"Caves of Androzani" and "Parting of the Ways", where ARE you? Le sigh.

He was excelent in the part, even though I did not like a lot of the material he was given. Even this, as a finale, has me cringing. Haven't we seen this before WITH Matt Smith's Doctor? It's like the same damn story. "I'm gonna die! The army people with no motivation of any substance are coming for me! All my enemies! Also there's some aspect of this being a child's fantasy or storybook thing!" Ugh. I wish we could go out on a really, really good story and not have the fact the Doctor is regenerating BE the story.

"Caves of Androzani" and "Parting of the Ways", where ARE you? Le sigh.

^ Yeah I was thinking the same thing, that Moffat might actually have Capaldi appear earlier and play a bigger role in the episode. Especially given that it's going to be quite a long wait until we see Capaldi again in his series.

Capaldi appearing halfway through the special and saving the day is an excellent way to undercut Matt's final episode and completely take away from our last few moments with the 11th Doctor by putting all the spotlight and fanfare on the 12th.

I doubt Capaldi will appear halfway through the special. Indeed, cliched as it may be, the regeneration happening at the end does serve its purpose as the catalyst of drama, by allowing the rest of the story be the fitting end for the given outgoing Doctor.

^The exceptions, of course, being "Time and the Rani" and the '96 movie.

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Time and the Rani feels far more like a post-regeneration story for Seven than a final story for Six. Indeed, the pre-titles regeneration is reminiscent of the pre-title regeneration in Catrovalva. That being said, the TV Movie actually is the exception to the rule, but I doubt they'd ever repeat that for all intents and purposes.